Council approves personnel recommendations addressing sexual‑orientation discrimination; several items held for more review

The City Council approved a set of personnel recommendations on Nov. 3 aimed at addressing discrimination based on sexual orientation in city personnel policies, but several numbered items were held for further committee consideration.

Councilmember Walters sought clarification about whether parts of the public report conflicted with matters discussed in a recent closed session; city attorney staff said Groberson‑related matters remained in closed session and that the public recommendations considered were distinct and policy‑oriented. Personnel department staff said the recommendations had been reviewed by departments; Janet Smith of the personnel department said targeted training for categories such as sexual orientation would be "the first such training" beyond general EEO and workplace diversity classes. LAPD Commander Betty Calepas said the department worked closely with personnel and the city attorney and supported many of the recommendations while noting some enhancements were above and beyond existing practice.

Committee chair Ms. Goldberg said five items that remained contentious were being held for further analysis (the chair named items including 54, 82, 94 and 110 in the discussion), and proposed removals were accepted. Several councilmembers urged moving forward on the measures that had broad agreement rather than waiting for every single detail to be finalized. The remaining package was approved (roll call recorded as 10 ayes).

The council and staff said departments had participated in meetings and wording was drafted at the table to address many concerns; items that were removed will return for additional committee review.